


Hair Today, but also Hair Tomorrow

by mezzosesu



Series: Fluffcember [3]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Day 14: hair-brushing, Fluff, Fluffcember 2020, Gen, Hair Braiding, Papyrus's chaotic craft skills, Slice of Life, Talk of Undyne's crush on Alphys, Very Mild Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-16
Updated: 2020-12-16
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:35:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28107135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mezzosesu/pseuds/mezzosesu
Summary: Today is Undyne's day for relaxation, and also the day for a certain skeleton to visit.
Relationships: Papyrus & Undyne (Undertale)
Series: Fluffcember [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2037313
Comments: 3
Kudos: 18





	Hair Today, but also Hair Tomorrow

**Author's Note:**

> I...really like hair handling fics yall. Consider this a spiritual successor to [ A Hair-Raising Adventure ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13944243), but you can definitely enjoy this without reading that (But also you should consider reading it because it's one of my favorites haha)
> 
> I'm really all over the place with my Fluffcember prompts, and this won't be the only hair-centric fic I write. I'm just really tickled at the fact that I'm still trying to get myself to do day 3 and I was like "Day 14, I gotta stay up and do this right now!", so I think the quality might be pretty good haha
> 
> Doop_doop on twitter (and ao3) made the fluffcember prompts and one day I'll actually link to these prompts but at 1am when I wake up at 6? That's gonna be a pass from me tonight, pal.

Today was Undyne’s day for relaxation. 

Usually, she was the rough and tough captain, in charge of all the recruits from Snowdin to Hotland, and that job kept her moving from early in the day to late at night. She had to make an example to those starry-eyed monsters, to show them that she was the epitome of awesomeness, usually with some well-placed growls and suplexed boulders (--though that last one was just because she could). 

Don’t get her wrong, Undyne loved doing that stuff, she was the hero of the Underground! But sometimes the hero really does just want to sit at her piano with a nice cup of Golden Flower Tea and puzzle through her composition.

Throwing back her second cup of tea for the morning, Undyne sighed and glared at her music. The melody was simple enough that she could manage it, but the harmony made her want to tear her hair out. Why were there so many thirty-second notes?? Why did she do that to herself?

Well, she could probably blame Napstablook for that, since they helped her out with composing the music in the first place. Damn them and their love of 8-bit music bleeding into her arrangement. Although, once she managed to perfect it, it would sound pretty friggin’ neat.

Undyne took a breath, gave her music another scathing look, then set her fingers on the keys to play again. Slowly, carefully, one note at a time to build the muscle memory. 

Right as she played the first chord, the tune of “Shave and a haircut” in the form of a knock assaulted her door. The beautiful C Major that she started melted into a gross amalgam of sounds, and, with a snarl, Undyne got up from her piano and stalked towards the door. Who the hell was here to interrupt her, on THIS her most holy of relaxation days??

“It’s me, I’m the culprit!” The voice behind the door said as if answering her thoughts. Undyne’s bubbling anger dissipated to fondness when she recognizes the voice. 

She opened the door, revealing Papyrus in his pajamas. In one arm he had a basket, no doubt filled to the brim with everything they’d need for their hangout today. In the other, Sans, wearing his usual nonsense. Papyrus followed her curious gaze to his arm and donned an apologetic look--well, as apologetic as a skeleton could look. Somehow, Undyne is slightly peeved that she can tell.

“On my way here I found him snoozing at his post--SNOOZING! On the job! I figure if he’s going to sleep, he might as well do it somewhere where I can keep an eyesocket on him.”

Undyne waved him off. “‘s no big deal, I don’t care. Get in here already.”

Papyrus stepped inside and closed the door behind him. After taking off his boots (somehow without dropping either the basket or Sans, the hell Papyrus?), Papyrus set Sans down on the top of the piano. “What, it’s not like it’s the first time someone’s lounged on it!” Papyrus said, countering Undyne’s disgusted glare. “Besides, we need the bed for our activities!”

As usual, Undyne was no match for Papyrus’s logic, and rather than fight him on it like a regular day, Undyne shrugged. Whatever, Sans is lighter than that metal friend of Alphys’s, so it was probably okay. 

Undyne busied herself with brewing a new batch of tea, pulling out two mugs from her cabinet. After a moment, she brings down a third cup as well. Even if Sans slept the whole time, Undyne wasn’t about to be a bad host and not have a drink for him. As she waited, she heard the telltale signs of Papyrus ruining her bedroom. 

...Yep, that’s her cool anime replica sword falling.

...And there goes the shelves.

...Did Papyrus bring a wood saw today???

Undyne’s neck grew warm with her rising irritation levels, but she calmly reasoned to herself that this was normal for their relaxation days together. Papyrus would make an utter mess of everything, but he always fixed it afterward just as quickly. That monster was too crafty to want to sully his hands with being a Royal Guard… but she doesn’t think about that right now. She’s the hero on a break, after all.

When the tea is ready, Undyne fills the mugs and brings two with her to her bedroom, leaving the third on her dining table just in case. She entered the room, and for a moment she thought she accidentally missed and ended up in a different house altogether. 

Fairy lights hung from her ceiling in large, swooping circles, highlighting the beautiful starry landscape that Papyrus painted over her normal beige walls. Her bed had been completely rearranged with large pillows and the stuffed cartoon animals she usually hid in her closet, and the bed’s legs and headboard were mysteriously missing. 

She decided not to worry about it. 

Papyrus sat on the bed with his spine to the wall, framed in bright purple light from a lamp he set up on her nightstand. He was organizing various pins and combs beside him, and when Undyne took a closer look, she noted that the wall behind Papyrus had mysteriously not been painted, and she also noted that all of the paint actually looked like it was still very fresh and leaking onto her hardwood floors.

She decided not to worry about that, either.

“So what have you got planned for me today?” Undyne asked, plopping down on the bed in front of Papyrus and scattering all of his organization work. He gives her a displeased ‘nyeh’, before reaching into his basket and tossing a few snack bars her way.

“I learned about the French Braid today from the human! Well, rather, I learned the  _ concept  _ of the French Braid, but I think I understand the gist. It’ll be an adventure for us, but, of course, it’ll go flawlessly since I am the Great Papyrus.”

“Yeah yeah, whatever,” Undyne said, already giving herself over to the floating feeling of doing absolutely nothing at all. “Just don’t mess up my hair.”

The sharp sound of gloves snapping onto bones followed her sentence, almost as if scoffing at her. The rubbery latex caressed her hair as Papyrus gently gathered a bunch of her hair, and he tuts. “I don’t have to do anything, when’s the last time you brushed your hair?”

“Uhh…” Undyne thought back over the week. Usually, she took her helmet off right before bed, and in the morning she didn’t have time to do anything more than tie her hair up haphazardly before practice with the training dummy. Even in the shower, she couldn’t be assed to do more than finger through it aggressively until it obeyed. 

“Not sure,” Undyne finally said. 

She heard a muttered ‘oh my  _ god _ ’ behind her, but she ignored it in favor of shoving a snack bar in her mouth. 

“Well, this might be unpleasant in the beginning, but it’s entirely your fault,” Papyrus warned, picking up the wide-toothed comb and the spray bottle of water. 

“Do your worst, skeleton man. I’ve endured far more painful than this.”

But as Papyrus began to work the knots out of her hair, Undyne had to grit her teeth to stop herself from yelling. 

This wasn’t a new occurrence, the two of them getting together like this. Just like the hero sometimes wanted to have a relaxing day, Papyrus sometimes had days where he just needed to be around someone that wasn’t his brother, someone that actually talked to him on a regular basis. He also needed something to focus on to ease the restless energy that always sent him jittering along the Underground.

The hair-brushing activity that appeased both of their wants was a mistake, actually, a result of Undyne’s drunken rambles and Papyrus’s intense need to make her happy, but neither of them could complain. It was actually pretty...fun.

Once Undyne endured through the end of Papyrus’s ministrations (And Papyrus endured through the end of Undyne’s mumbled threats), the conversation began to flow. Usually, they started on the easy things: training, home life, and such, but as they got more comfortable they would delve into area gossip and minor frustrations. And when the mood got really good, like today, Papyrus would broach the topic of Undyne’s crush. 

“Papyrus, she was so cute today,” Undyne said through a mouthful of meat jerky. “I saw her shovel a whole pack of instant noodles in like, 3 seconds tops, I cannot make this shit up.”

Papyrus hummed in response as he worked her strands into something vaguely like a braid. “That sounds terribly unhealthy. She needs more fiber in her diet.”

“Yeah, but--” Undyne went to turn her head, but Papyrus softly bapped her on the head, silently telling her to keep her head straight. “ _ Yeah, but!  _ The passion! The finesse! Have you ever eaten something that fast?! With that much gusto?! It’s inspiring, pal.” Undyne let out a soft sigh. “Man, I like her so much.”

Papyrus continued to work, picking up a pin now and again to keep her hair put. “So, when are you gonna tell her?”

“Tell her what?”

“...Your feelings? The waxing poetic about her unhealthy eating habits?? Have we been in two completely different conversations???”

“Me, tell her my feelings?” Undyne barked out a loud laugh. In the distance, she swore she heard a startled snort, but ignored it. “I can’t do that. I’m just gonna hold onto these feelings, bottle them up real deep inside. Then, I’ll die and take them with me.”

Even though she can’t see it, she knew Papyrus was frowning at her. Not for the morbid talk, Papyrus’s sense of macabre humor was much more advanced than hers, but for hiding away her feelings. She’s been doing it for so long though, what else was she supposed to do?

“Well, hopefully that changes at some point. And when it does, your best friend Papyrus will be there to lend a helping hand! And a closet full of much more fashionable clothes than yours!” 

“Hey, what’s wrong with my closet?” Undyne demanded.

“For starters, you have a training outfit, armor, and a sleeping outfit, and I’m pretty sure those overlap. You cannot take your crush on a fancy date in your gross clothes, I won’t allow it!”

Undyne willed herself not to tear up. “You’re such a good friend, Papyrus.”

“A Best Friend! I’ve been saying it all along!” Papyrus preened behind her.

Man, what a nerd. A nerd that was her best friend. She must be the luckiest fish in all the Underground. 

“Oh, I’m done! Check out what I did!” Papyrus said, pushing Undyne towards her mirror. 

“Okay okay, I’m going.” 

Following Papyrus’s advice, Undyne got off the bed and went to her mirror. From the front she can’t really see much, other than her hair not framing her face. She tried to turn in a way that she could see the back of it and Papyrus, noticing her plight, came over with a small hand mirror. He held it in a way that she could see, and her breath caught when she saw what Papyrus had done. 

It wasn’t a braid by any means, poor skeleton didn’t know a knot from a twist, but it was looped in such a way that the mess looked almost beautiful. Small pins of different colors dotted her hair at various points, and when Papyrus had run out of regular pins, he apparently turned to cute flower and skeleton clips for the sides of her hair. It was a right mess, but it was also...kind of cute? It reminded Undyne of the heroes in the books she borrowed from Alphys, with their flowy dresses and dainty magical wands. Maybe Alphys would think she was cute too...maybe?

Ahahaha that’s a funny joke, of course she’s not going to show this to anyone else. 

“Where did you learn to braid Papyrus, a cereal box?” Undyne asked, no trace of malice in her voice. 

“I’ll have you know that it was a coloring book!”

Undyne laughed; lightly, loudly, genuinely. Today’s relaxation day was a resounding success in her book. “Well thanks anyway, I think I’ll leave it in like this for a while. Now then, let me show you this bitch of sheet music I’m working on right now…”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! 
> 
> Did you enjoy yourself? Not to be rude but it doesn't matter! This is for me! Thanks for reading though :) Do me let know if you liked it, and don't let me know if you didn't haha.
> 
> If you're curious about my other work or just want to find where else I am on the internet, you can find that [here](https://mezzosesu.carrd.co/) on my Carrd!


End file.
